The UK's coastal waters are home to a wealth of weird
and wonderful marine life. From colorful corals, to sparkling slugs.
Our shores are far more vibrant than they may first appear.
Here's just a few species that you might not have known that you could find in UK waters,
and some of the work that we're doing to protect them, to ensure that
they have a healthy sea in which to thrive.
Number one
The seahorse.
Seahorses can be found all around the UK.
There's even populations in the Thames. They tend to stick to shallow
and sheltered waters, and can change color to blend in with their surroundings.
They aren't the fastest of swimmers,
so they need to rely on this camouflage to hide themselves from their predators.
But most fascinating, is the way that it's the males that give birth to the young.
The females hand over the fertilized eggs to the males who will then look after them
until it's time for them to hatch.
Number two
The harbour porpoise.
UK waters are home to many different types of cetacean.
That's whales, dolphins, and porpoises. The smallest of these
that's found in UK waters is the harbour porpoise,
which grows to only one and a half meters at full size.
And it takes a newborn harbour porpoise less than 30 hours to develop full hearing.
That's the fastest of any mammal at land or at sea.
But all harbour porpoises face threats from noise pollution,
and getting caught as bycatch in fishing nets.
And the UK is home to around a hundred and seventy thousand of these shy and elusive creatures.
The need to feed almost around the clock in order to survive.
Number three
The orca.
Despite being known as killer whales,
orca are actually the world's largest species of dolphin.
And orca are incredibly intelligent animals that display sophisticated hunting
techniques, using them to feed on other marine mammals, dolphins, sharks,
seabirds, and even octopus.
And they're also incredibly inquisitive creatures as well. Investigating kayakers,
surfers, and swimmers, that they find sharing the water with them.
And the UK has a resident pod of orcas that live off the west coast of Scotland,
but they're an older isolated group
and it's feared that they have high levels of pollutants in their bodies.
And as a result, no calves have been born to this pod
for many years.
Number four
The basking shark.
Basking sharks are the second largest fish in the world
and can be found all around the coasts of Britain.
These gentle giants swim slowly at the surface,
basking in the sun. They swim along with their mouths wide open at all
times in order to filter plankton from the water
for them to eat.
But despite their size and prevalence in British waters,
little is known about basking shark social behavior.
So WWF and Sky Ocean Rescue worked with Partners in Scotland to
use underwater robot cameras to track them,
and learn more about this, helping in turn to make the case
for their protection in the Inner Hebrides.
They can grow up to 11 meters long, and weigh up to to 7 tons,
making them almost the same size
as a London double-decker bus.
Number five
Bottlenose dolphin.
Bottlenose dolphins are beautiful sociable creatures.
They’re one of few species along with humans
and apes, who can recognize themselves in a mirror.
Bottlenose dolphins sleep with one eye open,
and one half of their brain awake at all times.
It's thought they do this to keep an eye out
for their group, to make sure that they stay together at all times,
and to be aware of any predators that might be approaching,
like sharks. And there are thought to be three resident pods
of bottlenose dolphin around the UK. One in
Cardigan Bay in Wales, the other off the coast of Cornwall in England,
and the final in the Moray Firth in Scotland,
which is thought to be the northernmost pod of bottlenose dolphins in the entire world.
So, how are we protecting our seas?
We put pressure on the UK government
to establish a network of Marine Protected Areas
or MPAs, that provide vital protection to marine wildlife through restricting
what activities can be done within their boundaries, activities like fishing, development,
or any activity that causes noise pollution.
We had some big wins as well, the area of UK waters that is protected has tripled
from 8 percent to 24 percent in the last 5 years,
and five large MPAs in Scotland that we campaigned
for are all very close to being approved. When these are approved,
they'll protect an area of sea three times the size of Wales.
but there's still more work that needs to be done.
UK seas and our marine wildlife are struggling.
We're losing coastal habitats. Overfishing is rife
and we're failing to meet our own targets for the health of UK coastlines.
So we're campaigning with Sky Ocean Rescue to call on the government to take action
for ocean recovery. To restore our seas to help the benefits of people
and nature, so that they in turn can help us in the fight against climate change
and biodiversity loss. Together we can protect our precious UK seas
and chart a course to a brighter future for our blue planet.
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